Ride With Tank

Friday morning, originally uploaded by Tank Mobile.

Well it looks like my run of perfect weather has finally come to an end. It is cloudy today and spitting a little rain every now and again to keep the road damp. I really can’t complain because the weather has been so perfect, but I will complain if it is not gone by tomorrow.

I got a little riding in last night and it was a lot of fun. It was also a good night at the campfire hanging out with a couple of guys from New Jersey and the pinstriping guy. They had me out at the fire ring pretty late which caused me to sleep in a little bit this morning, but I was on the road around 7:30.

The Harleys are really starting to flow in for the thing at Fontana and there are also a ton of Busas down here.

The police have a “DUI” checkpoint setup down by the foothills parkway to catch all the drunk drivers that are out in a dry county at 9:00AM.

It seems like I am also seeing a lot of guys on BMW LT’s and I have to say that most of them appear to be riding well above their skill level.

Thursday night, originally uploaded by Tank Mobile.

Well here I sit at the overlook, ending the day much the same as I started it. It is almost totally dark now and I sit here listening to all the critters out in the forest. Every once in a while I can hear the wail of a sport bike off in the distance.

Times like now are the times I live for. This is the most perfect spot on the face of the earth. If I had to live the rest of my life without going further than 50 miles from the spot I sit at now I really don’t think I would ever miss the rest of the world. It is easy for me to understand why they called it the Trail of Tears when the Cherokee indians were removed from here. We took paradise from those people.

Thursday morning, originally uploaded by Tank Mobile.

Today I made my earliest and coldest coffee run of the week. I saw my thermometer drop down to about 44 on my way up here and it really felt quite brisk.

This morning I saw a sedan coming the other way driving like a madman so I slowed down a little because we were going to meet in the hairpin. It turned out he was not driving like a madman: he was, in fact, a madman – it was Ben.

There were a couple of unusual guys camping at the CROT this week. One of them found a warm place to sleep last night. He spent the night in the Robbinsville jail on drug charges.

The gas shortage seems to be getting pretty bad down here. Brad told us to avoid going south because there is just no gasoline. Asheville is basically shut down today because there is no gasoline. Everything is closed, the whole city is closed. So far this has had no affect on us at all and I am hoping it stays that way.

Wednesday afternoon, originally uploaded by Tank Mobile.

I had a little bit of excitement today! A bear crossed the road in front of me this afternoon! Finally after all this time I can say I have seen a bear.

Usually I see a lot of turkeys also, but this time the only turkeys I have seen have been riding Gold Wings or Harleys.

I guess there is some kind of Harley ralley at Fontana this weekend. The Harleys are just flowing in on trailers. On my last run I passed 6 or 7 guys pulling motorcycle trailers. I really don’t understand why a guy would trailer a HD to a place like this. What amazes me even more is that most of those guys hate twisty roads also! I just don’t know why they come here. Maybe the scenery is worth it to them. I guess I ride my motorcycle to places that I really do not enjoy riding it just to see the scenery.

Sometimes I like the quiet while I sit here, but right now I can hear sport bikes all around me and I like that sound also.

Wednesday morning, originally uploaded by Tank Mobile.

Not much to report this morning. Perfect weather, coffee at the overlook, pancakes at the store, a whole lot of bac and forth and a quick trip to Fontana Dam.